Traitor
by Son of Aether
Summary: Traitor. That's what Sirius Black was. No friend to Remus. No friend of his could sit by and watch the world crash and burn around him. No friend of his could cause it. Remus Lupin thinks his world is over, but salvation comes in the form of Lily Evans.


**This is based on the line in the PoA film where Remus says "Your mother was there for me in a time when no-one else was,"**

**I decided to expand on the idea, and felt it fit in nicely with the story about Snape finding out what Remus was.**

**Disclaimer: All recognisable characters and events belong to JKR.**

It was out. After over fifteen years on hiding, lying, fearing. All of it for nothing. All because of one, stupid, so-called friend. Traitor.

Remus Lupin sat in the corner of an abandoned classroom. One hand loosely held his wand. The other gripped James' invisibility cloak. For once, he'd skived off classes, the last of the Marauders to give in to temptation and take a day to themselves, away from petty, unimportant things such as education. Remus had tried to be different. Show the world that sometimes, werewolves could be good, go to school, pass exams, live a life. But he was throwing that away now. What else could he do? His secret was out. The world would condemn him before he got a chance. Why bother?

The Marauders. What did that even mean any more? Sirius had betrayed them. Shown them how little their friendship meant. Once, they had been the height of popularity. Rulers of their kingdom. Kings in their high castle. Not anymore. Now everyone would know. They would never respect a group who harboured someone like him. No, some_thing_. He had to get used to it now. He was no longer human. The mask had to come off. All anyone would ever see was the monster within. Why bother with the person on the surface anymore?

He flung the cloak over himself and moved towards the door. It swung open, and a couple fell through it, paying far too much attention to each other to notice him brushing past them. He could never have that. He was a monster. That was another possibility his 'friend' had taken away from him. Another thing to cross off the ever-shortening list.

He stalked up to Gryffindor tower, concealed beneath the cloak. He pushed past people, who fell back in alarm as they were thrown aside by a seemingly invisible force. He didn't acknowledge Peter as he past him slipped through the portrait hole in the opposite direction. Now he knew. Never trust a friend. You never know when they'll stab you in the back.

The door swung to his dormitory swung open, and he threw the cloak onto James' bed. Too late, he recognised the curled up form of Sirius Black, on a chair by the window. Unfortunately, Sirius noticed him, and began to rise,

"Moony-"

The calm demeanour he was so well known for shattered in time with Sirius' nose. He turned and fled the room without a thought. He didn't want to hear the apology. He didn't care anymore.

He ran, out of the tower, through the corridors, out of the front doors. He moved automatically towards the lake, throwing himself down beneath the beech tree where he had so often sat with James, Peter and… he couldn't bring himself to think it. _He_ was dead to Remus. Maybe he should go and die. Save Remus the trouble.

Remus sat. The time passed without meaning. An hour? Two? He couldn't care less. All it meant was that his time free from the abuse he was sure to receive from his fellow students, and later the rest of the world, was slowly ticking away. And what did he care? He nothing else to do. His past deeds would soon become meaningless. This was the end.

He felt something warm touch his shoulder and someone sat down beside him. He didn't want to see James. He didn't want to hear the name. Even though James sided with him. Even if he was only insulting their former friend. . But he was surprised when an unexpected voice spoke.

"Remus?"

It was Lily.

"What?" he said shortly. He was not in the mood to be consoled.

"What happened?" there was real concern in her voice, "You weren't in class today. You missed your rounds,"

He dodged the question, "How did you find me?"

She didn't reply, but by the way she scrunched up her face in distaste, she must have confronted James, "It doesn't matter. Talk to me, Remus. You won't talk to the others. Tell me what's wrong,"

Remus supposed there wasn't any point in hiding it anymore. There was a kind of vindictive pleasure in insulting Black while talking to someone who disliked him as much as Lily, "Sirius. He told Snape. He told him how to find me last night," Lily looked puzzled, as if she thought the conversation were about to get awkward, "He doesn't give a shit. Doesn't care about me. About what this means for me. 'spect you've heard by now. The whole bloody school probably knows. And you're Snivellus' friend," for once he stooped. With his future crashing and burning, he could afford to finally give in and taunt Snape, even if it was truly Sirius' fault, now that he was the cause, "And he hates that you talk to me. I bet he ran to you straight away, soon as he got that cut fixed up. I wish I'd done it better. I can't even scratch that little git properly, let alone choose a good friend,"

"_What_?"

This threw Remus off, but he continued with his rant anyway, "You might as well run. Still a full moon tonight. Best tuck yourself away in the castle before the werewolf gets you,"

"What are you talking about?"

Remus faltered again, "You mean… you don't know?"

"About what?"

He frowned, turning away, "No point hiding it anymore. The rumour will become fact soon enough, and nobody wants a werewolf within a hundred miles of their precious, pure, untainted children. And I'll be gone,"

"Wait a second. You're a-"

"Obviously," he drawled cruelly, as if insulting her for not having worked it out. He was in no mood to be considerate,

"But that would mean… Severus always suspected… How does he know?"

"My selfish git of an ex-friend decided it would be funny. I hope it's funny now that I nearly killed Snape. That he no longer has any friends. Maybe now he knows how I feel,"

"What do you mean? This isn't going to change anything. Sev was practically convinced for _years_ and nothing happened,"

"Well now he knows for sure, doesn't he? Now he can go to Dumbledore and get him to kick me out, or else threaten to tell the ministry he's letting a werewolf attend his school. And then I'm out. And everyone will know. And I'll have to go live in the mountains and never see another human and eat _fucking_ rats to stay alive," He threw a punch at the tree, which shook slightly from the force.

Lily put an arm around his shoulder comfortingly,

"Don't worry about it, Remus. You'll be fine. No-one will treat you differently,"

"Yes, they will, Lily. You don't understand. You're muggleborn. The whole world hates werewolves. Wherever they go, they're shunned from society. I can't get a job. I can't have a life. Snape spills this, and my future is ruined. I'm as good as dead. I'd be better off dead," the emotions he had holed up inside him broke loose, and he felt his body shake in a single, violent sob as tears began to streak down his cheeks.

Lily stood up, as if appalled. He wasn't sure if it was by him, or the idea of her best friend destroying someone, who had always seemed so strong and fearless, so utterly. Then she spoke, reassuringly,

"It's ok, Remus. I'll talk to Sev. Make him see sense. I won't let him tell anyone,"

Remus looked up. He knew if there was one person Snape would ever listen to, if there was one person who could stop him, it was Lily. He didn't dare to hope. "You'd do that? For me?"

"Of course," she began to move away quickly, evidently rushing off to catch Snape before he did anything, but before she left, she said,

"And remember, Remus. No matter what happens, you won't loose everything,"

"What?"

"No matter what happens, you'll still have your friends,"

And she was gone, back up to the castle. For the first time since he had left for the shrieking shack to the day before, Remus smiled.

Perhaps now, maybe he could see why James obsessed over her so. Why he spent so much time trying to seek her approval, to earn her friendship. Because when it came down to it, Lily Evans was a bloody good friend.

**Ok, so that wasn't amazing, but I had to write this down because I really like the idea of this being why Remus respected/liked Lily so much. That, and I loved the line about him breaking Sirius' nose.**

**Reviews would be much appreciated.**


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